Russian PM warns US against ramping up sanctions

Dmitry Medvedev said that if the US introduces sanctions against Russian banks, Moscow will see that as a declaration of an ‘economic war’.

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Russia’s prime minister has sternly warned the United States against ramping up sanctions, saying that Moscow will strike back with economic, political and unspecified “other” means.

Dmitry Medvedev said that if the US introduces sanctions against Russian banks as some reports indicated, Moscow will see that as a declaration of an “economic war” and respond accordingly.

He said that Russia will retaliate “with economic means, political means and, if necessary, other means. Our American friends should understand that”.

The US State Department said on Wednesday that Washington made the determination this week that Moscow had used the Novichok nerve agent to poison ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, and that sanctions would follow later this month.

Russia has strongly denied involvement in the poisoning.

According to the State Department, those sanctions will include the presumed denial of export licences for Russia to purchase many items with national security implications.

New sanctions proposals in US Congress include legislation targeting Russia’s state-controlled banks and freezing their operations in dollars — a move that would deal a heavy blow to the Russian economy.

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Mr Medvedev warned the US that such a move would cross a red line.

“If something like a ban on bank operations or currency use follows, it will amount to a declaration of economic war,” he said. “And it will warrant a response with economic means, political means and, if necessary, other means. Our American friends should understand that.”

Mr Medvedev’s tough tone was in stark contrast with past statements by President Vladimir Putin and his lieutenants, who have taken a nonchalant posture while talking about US and other Western sanctions, seeking to downplay their impact on the Russian economy.

Vladimir Putin has been more nonchalant about the sanctions in public (Peter Muhly/PA)

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Russia-US ties have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War times amid tensions over Ukraine, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Mr Medvedev said that while the US says that the sanctions are intended to punish Russia’s “bad” behaviour, their real goal is to sideline a rival.

“It’s intended to remove Russia as a strong competitor on the international arena,” he said.

Mr Medvedev pointed at US efforts to block the planned construction of a new Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany in order to encourage the sales of American liquefied natural gas to Europe as an example of “unfair competition”.